Temporary Protected Status Program Ends for Nicaraguans and Haitians

By
The Alagiri Immigration Law Firm
|December 04, 2017

What this means for TPS beneficiaries, and what you can do.

The US has announced that in January 2019 it will terminate a temporary
program that gave Nicaraguan immigrants protection from deportation following
natural disasters in their country, and that Haitian immigrants will also
see their program end after an 18-month transition period. Similar decisions
regarding Honduran and El Salvadorian beneficiaries of the same program
are expected to follow.

What is the TPS program?

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a program that was enacted by Congress
in 1990 to protect immigrants fleeing from war and other emergency situations.
Such situations might include hurricanes, earthquakes, civil strife, terrorism
or other natural disasters that make it dangerous for these immigrants
to return to their homeland. The TPS program currently protects more than
320,000 people from nine different countries living in the United States
today. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the largest
number of these immigrants come from El Salvador, at around 195,000 people.

According to federal immigration officials, TPS is meant to provide temporary,
rather than long-term relief; however some of the program's beneficiaries
have been able to renew their status under the program for six or eighteen-month
intervals for several decades. Earlier this year, TPS programs expired
for immigrants from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The program for Nicaraguan immigrants was originally due to expire on January
5, 2018, but it was delayed by 12 months “to allow for an orderly
transition.”

Immigrants from Nicaragua became eligible for TPS status when Hurricane
Mitch ravaged Central America in October of 1998 (Honduran Immigrants
became eligible for the same reason). The storm killed more than 3,000
people in Nicaragua, and more than 5,600 in Honduras. Immigrants from
those countries had to have been living in the US since December 30, 1988
to qualify for the TPS program. The TPS program has been extended for
both countries due to tropical storms, earthquakes, drought, poverty and,
in Nicaragua, a volcanic eruption getting in the way of recovery efforts,
according to federal reports.

While it's not as surprising that Nicaragua's TPS program will
be suspended after nearly three decades, it is interesting to note that
Haitians had already bee told in May by then-Homeland Security Secretary
John Kelly, after extending Haiti’s TPS status for six months, that
they “need to start thinking about returning.”

Haiti was given TPS status in 2010, after an earthquake killed hundreds
of thousands of people on the small island country; however multiple tropical
storms since then have seriously inhibited recovery. Still, the US Department
of Homeland Security attests that the country of Haiti has sufficiently
recovered to welcome it's 50,000 refugees currently on American soil,
back to the island, although many others disagree.

Popular singer-songwriter Wyclef Jean, a Haitian immigrant himself and
an outspoken supporter of immigrants right's was quoted in an interview
with Billboard Magazine expressing his displeasure on the decision. "The
country of Haiti right now, we cannot afford to take 50,000 Haitians to
go back home right now," said Jean.

TPS Programs currently protect immigrants from eight other countries beyond
Nicaragua, including El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Somalia, South
Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Officials from some of these countries, such as
Haiti and El Salvador, have asked for extensions, stating that their nations
have not yet recovered enough to accept their citizens back, and that
their immigrants are contributing positively to the US economy.

Damage from hurricanes in Haiti

What Does This Mean for those in TPS Programs?

Temporary Protected Status does not currently make individuals automatically
eligible for permanent residence or U.S. citizenship; however a few lawmakers
have introduced a bill that is trying to change that.

Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, along with Miami Representative
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington are
preparing legislation that would allow every TPS recipient to apply for
permanent residency - it's called the ASPIRE act, and it would allow
everyone who was a TPS recipient as of January 1, 2017 to apply for permanent
residency by proving in front a judge that they would face extreme hardship
if forced to return to their home country.

Some TPS recipients may already be eligible to apply for permanent lawful
status. Even if you previously had TPS status that is due to expire, and
you feel you have no other options, you do have time. According to an
interview with a Department of Homeland Security administration official,
former TPS recipients are not considered to be immediate targets for deportation.

“We prioritize criminal aliens and those who have a final order of
removal. Your typical TPS recipient will not fall into those priorities,"
he explained. "We stand by our position that all persons who are
here illegally are eligible for removal, but they will not be targeted
for removal."

The officials interviewed stated that the administration would support
any effort by Congress to find a more permanent solution for the Nicaraguans
previously part of the TPS program, and any other immigrants whose programs
may end soon as well.

What Options do I have?

The first thing you should do if you're worried that your TPS status
might expire is to contact an immigration attorney and see if you are
able to apply for a more permanent visa.

What you can do to make your status more permanent depends on many factors.
A small number of TPS grantees are still in the U.S. on a valid temporary
visa, especially from countries granted TPS in the past few years. If
you fall into this category, you should contact an immigration lawyer
today to regularize your situation before your TPS and/or your visa expire.

If you entered the country legally on a tourist visa, your options will
be different than if you entered without documentation. There may be different
routes to permanency for those who have developed community attachments,
built families, business or have employers that might support them staying.
It's difficult to answer this question without knowing the specifics
of your situation, so the best thing you can do is contact us if you have
any questions about your situation and what to do after TPS expires.

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